Eugene Wei
Doctor Eugene Wei was a Human scientist that was a researcher aboard the Frontier Corps ship, the Ponce de Leon and was a planetary geologist for the crew. He was also the head scientist to command the Mobian Europa expedition that ended in disaster. Biography Eugene Wei was born on Earth in Hong Kong to a family of scientists. Growing up, he was constantly pushed to follow his parents. Unlike his prefered field, the Wei parents were both biologists who were employed by private corporations. Eugene wanted to find a way off Earth to explore more of the greater galaxy. When he saw that the Frontier Corps would always accept those with great academic standings, he dedicated his life to becoming part of the group that was always sent to new planets. Eugene majored in both astrophysics and planetary geology at the University of Hong Kong and submitted his resume upon the day of his graduation. To his great shock and glee, he was accepted into the Frontier Corps. Three months later he would leave for his first posting on the Archimedes, a class of ship not all dissimilar to the Ponce de Leon. For about twenty years he was sent to brand new discovered planets to see what they could learn about them and whether or not they would be suitable for Human colonization. If not Human colonization, could it be suitable for other races? The Fronteir Corps was an equal-opportunity non-military organization within the UNSC. Anybody with the know-how from any part of Known Space could apply. He met several aliens during his tenure with the Corps and broadened his cultural views. By the time he turned 30, Eugene knew more about many alien races than those not in the F.C.. In 3234, Eugene was assigned to the ''Ponce de Leon ''to help with the analysis of a newly discovered planet in a completely different universe named Mobius . Eugene was completely thrilled and confused with the assignment. However, he seemed to develop something of an unnerving relationship with the Mobians. He was uncomfortable with them and he wasn't sure why, given that many of his friends weren't Human. Later on that year, he was given the assignment to explore this alternate universe's version of the icy moon Europa as the Frontier Corps believed that it had major religious significance to the Echidna culture. Wei was accompanied with Miles Prower , Dr. Richard Garrett , and Dr. Qek Moq Tea , a Gallvente researcher. Upon landing on Europa on December 3, 3234, Wei led his team to the source of the disturbance: an ancient structure buried in the ice. It was later discovered that it was a research station called Twilight Station . Wei originally doubted that there was a structure on the moon, but later seemed to regard it with a bit of contempt, possibly because he had been proven wrong about its existence. Eugene and his team later saw that the structure was much older than originally anticipated. Their original estimation of a thousand years old was proven false when astronomical data from the facility itself confirmed that the station was over 12,000 years old. Wei expressed deep surprise at this and was even more confused when Prower stated that it was built around the time ancient Humans were eliminated on Mobius before the colonists showed up. It was at this moment that something changed within Eugene. He wanted to know more, and more importantly, he wanted to gain knowledge about this place. His decisions would be tested when his team encountered an entity known as The One , a collective hive intelligence that was formed from genius-level echidna who were taken here by colonists who re-appropriated the ancient base for their use. The echidna either connected themselves together mentally or were linked by the Human colonists. When the researchers died due to Darwin's Plague in the 27th Century, the One was alone and needed to argue with itself to find a way off Europa. Through conversation with the One, Eugene discovered something he never would have expected - actual survivors from the mass genocide locked in suspended animation. He was taken aback by the fact that they were still alive and in wonderful condition over the millenneia. His scientific curiosity got the better of him when he tried to touch the pod of a seemingly young woman. The One was angered by this and killed the woman through overloading her pod. Eugene was frightened by the One's actions and immedietely sought to destroy it despite the arguing from his colleagues. He eventually succeeded in arming the base to detonate its generator to trap the One within the walls of the Twilight Station forever. Eugene thought he was acting rationally, but it was clear the others thought differently. Prower accused Wei of killing the young woman through his actions and the other doctors agreeded. Whatever his intentions were, Wei was relieved of duty and was reprimanded for contaminating a historical site, refusing to listen to his colleagues, but was not charged for third degree manslaughter since nobody could have foreseen how the One would react. Wei would keep his position as a researcher, but this major foul-up would haunt him for the rest of his career and would teach him to listen to the advice of others. It might save his job. Wei's position of head researcher aboard the ''Ponce de Leon ''was eventually taken over by Dr. Garrett. Personality Eugene Wei always had that desire within him to learn more about the world around him. He was clearly ambitious about his work and he wanted to learn the answer to everything. Many considered him a rising star that would result in him having a whole department reporting to him. He was also regarded as very friendly with those around him, even non-Humans. However, this friendliness would stop short with the Mobians. For some reason, Eugene was not as warm towards them as others. Some might argue that perhaps the Mobians' minor closeness to Terran animals might have had some psychological effect on him that didn't work the same was as with an alien. There would be many that would say that Wei was not a racist. The problem wasn't the Mobians, it was their origins that got to Eugene. A downfall of Wei's was that he would sometimes take his work far too seriously and would become almost hell-bent on completing his work analyzing every little detail about every little thing that could be done. While this was expected in scientific research, Eugene was noted to be almost obsessed with it. He also had a tendency to become jealous when upstaged by others around him. He didn't particularly like being wrong as he wanted to be the one who came up with the correct theory about something. As the events of Europa also showed, he was also prone to make snap decisions when under pressure that he may not have considered the consequences to. Behind the Scenes Dr. Wei was partially based off of a professor I once had. I say 'partially' based in that his name was also Eugene, but he had a different last name. My professor also had a much different personality than Dr. Wei. I respected him as a professor and wanted to show that I remember him and his teaching. Appearances *Journal of Sally Acorn (First Appearance) Category:Character Category:Human Category:UNSC